NE NEWS SERVICE
COLOMBO, JULY 20
Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party Tamil National Alliance (TNA) has underlined the need for the right to self-government within a united and undivided country, as it invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “cooperative federalism” in its election manifesto.
Sri Lanka’s Election Commission on Thursday said it was committed to holding the parliamentary elections on August 5 but would wait until next week to assess the COVID-19 health threat to see if the polls can be held safely.
Quoting Modi’s address to Sri Lankan parliament in March 2015 where the Indian prime minister had advocated “cooperative federalism”, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in its manifesto says, “it is through a constitutional engagement on the model of federalism, within a united Sri Lanka that the legitimate aspirations of the Sri Lankan Tamils and other Tamil speaking inhabitants of the north and eastern parts of the island could be met”.
The TNA, which fights for seats in the northern and eastern provinces in the August 5 parliamentary polls, asserts that power-sharing arrangements must continue to be established as they existed under a merged north and east province based on a federal structure.
The party seeks socio-economic security to rebuild the lives of the northern and eastern people by asking for access to India through Jaffna’s Palaly International airport and passenger services through the Kankesanturai port.
The moves would open up new economic cultural and literary opportunities, the manifesto states.
On justice and accountability for the Tamils hit by the conflict, the TNA will continue to advocate for an independent international mechanism, it said, adding that the party would continue to pursue the repealing of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and to secure the release of Tamil political prisoners.
The TNA stresses that the international community has a role to play…”if at all more than ever, to ensure that the Tamil speaking people achieve permanent peace through genuine reconciliation”.
The TNA envisages international mechanisms such as the UN special
Rapporteurs to advocate for the rights of the Tamil speaking people.
The TNA comprising three political parties vie for a total of 29 seats in the north and eastern regions from the 225-seats in the national parliament.
The party had 16 seats in the last parliament whose term was ended six months ahead of the schedule by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to call a snap election.
The parliamentary polls were initially to be held on April 25, but had to be postponed due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which prompted the authorities to announce a nationwide lockdown from March 20.
Later, the election commission shifted the date to June 20. It was again deemed not suitable in view of the raging pandemic.
Finally, August 5 was selected as the date for the polls.
Over 16 million voters are to vote to elect a 225-member parliament for a five-year term.
